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Sustainable business model adoption among S&P 500 firms : A longitudinal content analysis study

Ritala, Paavo ; Huotari, Pontus ; Bocken, Nancy LU ; Albareda, Laura and Puumalainen, Kaisu (2018) In Journal of Cleaner Production 170. p.216-226
Abstract

In this study, we examine the diversity of sustainable business models adopted by the largest global corporations — those listed in the S&P 500 index — over the period 2005–2014. We examine press release communications during this period, which represent public data about business-relevant events. We expect that examining this communication can reveal longitudinal patterns in the adoption of sustainable business activities and models. Empirically, we utilize academic and practitioner expert panels to build a set of keywords across nine sustainable business model archetypes and utilize automated content analysis to examine the breadth and nature of a firm's sustainable business activities and practices. We find evidence of the... (More)

In this study, we examine the diversity of sustainable business models adopted by the largest global corporations — those listed in the S&P 500 index — over the period 2005–2014. We examine press release communications during this period, which represent public data about business-relevant events. We expect that examining this communication can reveal longitudinal patterns in the adoption of sustainable business activities and models. Empirically, we utilize academic and practitioner expert panels to build a set of keywords across nine sustainable business model archetypes and utilize automated content analysis to examine the breadth and nature of a firm's sustainable business activities and practices. We find evidence of the increasing prominence of different types of sustainable business models over time. In particular, the results show that large capitalized firms have mostly adopted the environmentally-oriented archetypes, and to much lesser extent the societal and organizational ones.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Content analysis, Large cap, S&P 500, Sustainability, Sustainable business models
in
Journal of Cleaner Production
volume
170
pages
11 pages
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85031933326
ISSN
0959-6526
DOI
10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.09.159
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
200385fe-1317-444f-be1f-ad53b7d573b3
date added to LUP
2017-10-30 10:34:37
date last changed
2022-04-25 03:30:53
@article{200385fe-1317-444f-be1f-ad53b7d573b3,
  abstract     = {{<p>In this study, we examine the diversity of sustainable business models adopted by the largest global corporations — those listed in the S&amp;P 500 index — over the period 2005–2014. We examine press release communications during this period, which represent public data about business-relevant events. We expect that examining this communication can reveal longitudinal patterns in the adoption of sustainable business activities and models. Empirically, we utilize academic and practitioner expert panels to build a set of keywords across nine sustainable business model archetypes and utilize automated content analysis to examine the breadth and nature of a firm's sustainable business activities and practices. We find evidence of the increasing prominence of different types of sustainable business models over time. In particular, the results show that large capitalized firms have mostly adopted the environmentally-oriented archetypes, and to much lesser extent the societal and organizational ones.</p>}},
  author       = {{Ritala, Paavo and Huotari, Pontus and Bocken, Nancy and Albareda, Laura and Puumalainen, Kaisu}},
  issn         = {{0959-6526}},
  keywords     = {{Content analysis; Large cap; S&P 500; Sustainability; Sustainable business models}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  pages        = {{216--226}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Journal of Cleaner Production}},
  title        = {{Sustainable business model adoption among S&P 500 firms : A longitudinal content analysis study}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.09.159}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.09.159}},
  volume       = {{170}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}